The Benefits of Retail Experimentation and Collaboration For Independent Fashion Brands with Elizabeth Solomeina of Flying Solo

If you’ve ever dreamed of having your products in stores but are hesitant to dip your toes into retail because of high overhead, lower wholesale margins, or lack of retail experience, Elizabeth Solomeina has a solution. In episode 116, Elizabeth shares her refreshingly different approach to retail. Her multi-city retail space and press showroom, Flying Solo, is designed just for independent designers to grow their brands and community. It is a collaborative retail space where designers get to control how their collection is presented, get feedback directly from customers, and make higher margins without the traditionally long wholesale lead times. Elizabeth Solomeina is the co-founder of Flying Solo, a revolutionary fashion retail and PR platform based in New York and Paris. With a background in design and entrepreneurship, Elizabeth has built one of the most influential independent fashion platforms in the world — supporting thousands of emerging brands over the years and redefining how fashion reaches the market. This episode explores: Fitting the customer Who the Flying Solo customer is How Flying Solo presents diverse designers, collections, fits, and sizing cohesively to customers The future of retail amidst today’s gloomy retail headlines Fitting the lifestyle What Elizabeth and her team look in the designer they stock How brands can best prepare for a successful retail experience How creatives can thrive by working together How Flying Solo’s retail model gives so much more freedom and flexibility to designers Fitting the values Why Elizabeth believes so strongly in the value of collaboration and community The benefits of creative experimentation for designers People and resources mentioned in this episode: Flying Solo website Flying Solo Instagram Elizabeth’s LinkedIn Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.